That's how we became friends
by utapyon
Summary: A four year old never likes being teased about being different. How will a transfer to a new kindergarten help?
1. Chapter 1

It was going to be a beautiful, clear day. The light blue morning sky was dotted with white, fluffy clouds. The birds were just beginning to awaken from a good nights rest and they chirped happily while hopping through the young branches of the trees. There was a slight chill in the air- but that would soon be gone as the spring progressed. It was a new year, and a new year brought many changes with it.

"Mommy! I don't wanna go to school!" the four year old whined, tugging at his mother's arm in protest. The woman sighed as she continued to drag him toward the kindergarten.

"Why don't you try out this playgroup _before_ deciding anything sweetie?"

The boy shook his head and whimpered.

"They're just gonna tease me again! Just like those other meanies!" he protested, his small hand combing through one of the pair of red locks of hair that was on each side of his head, standing out from the otherwise dull blonde hair. His mother let out an exasperated sigh and knelt down in front of him, resting her hands on her son's shoulders. That was about the 12th time they had gone through the issue.

"Come on Nanasuke, you won't know until you try right? I'm sure you'll have fun with all the other children there! Try to make some friends and after I pick you up, we can go for some ice-cream alright?" She said, smiling at her son as she ruffled his hair.

The four year old's eyes sparkled, he didn't really like the thought of going to the kindergarten, but he sure did like ice-cream!

With the thought of ice-cream in Nanasuke's head, the walk to the kindergarten gates went by a lot quicker.


	2. Chapter 2

The KIRA KIRA Kindergarten was a quaint little single storey building located at the edge of the neighbourhood. The pastel yellow walls covered with cute paintings of flowers and butterflies, not to mention a few muddy handprints. Fire engine red (childproof) gates marked the entrance to the premises. In front of the main kindergarten building was a huge lawn, which had been converted and now served as a play area. A well worn stone path leading up to the building separated the, what would have been, giant playground.

In the far right corner stood a towering tree, a small treehouse supported by the huge branches. Under the shade of the tree was a sandpit, in which two small boys were having a sand fight. Opposite the sandpit stood an old looking metal swing, working hard to support the weight of three children who decided that standing on a swing together was a good idea. Beside the swing was a small plastic slide that seemed to be hosting a fight club comprised of about 5 children.

To the left of the path that split up the area was a rectangular concrete court, surrounded by grass, where a dozen children sat quietly playing with little toy cars and drawing on the floor with chalk.

"See Nanasuke? This place doesn't seem so bad, does it-" Mrs Ichino began when she was cut off by a bunch of angry shouts.

"OI KID! GET OFF THE SLIDE AND TAKE TURNS! DON'T MAKE ME COME OVER THERE AND-"

"Nagumo, HOW many time have I told you NOT to yell at them? It's perfectly simple, you just go over to them and tell them NICELY."

"WELL EASY FOR YOU TO SAY! HITOMIKO LEFT YOU ALL THE QUIET KIDS!" A fiery redhead shouted at an icey haired boy who sat on the opposite side of the lawn, minding the children playing on the court.

"Well, you could always go inside and take Midorikawa's place." The icey haired boy said very matter-of-factly.

"WHAT? AND LET GIRLS PUT RIBBONS IN MY HAIR?! NO. THANK. YOU." The redhead yelled as he started to pry the fighting children apart.

Nanasuke tugged nervously on his mothers dress, "Mommy these people are scary... Can we go for ice-cream now?" he added hopefully. His mother was not listening though, as she was on her phone calling the person in charge. After a few words on the phone she scooped her son up and quickly walked past the squabbling teenagers (not to mention that they were a bad influence) and into the kindergarten building. There, was a smiling red haired teen waiting to meet them.

"Mrs Ichino?" he asked politely.

Nanasuke clung onto his mother as she smiled and responded, " Yes, and this is little Nanasuke here. Say 'hello' Nanasuke!"

With a small, timid "Hi" Nanasuke returned to burying his face in his mothers dress.

"I'm sorry, he's a bit shy."

"It's fine Mrs Ichino. I'm sure he'll warm up quickly. I'll take Nanasuke while you sort out some work with Hitomiko-nee?"

" Of course," Mrs Ichino said, setting Nanasuke down. " Thank you so much, erm-"

"Kiyama Hiroto." The boy said, smiling as he gave Nanasuke a pet on the head.

"Thank you so much Kiyama." Mrs Ichino finished, giving a small bow. She then turned to face her son.

"Nanasuke, you follow Kiyama-niisan while mommy does some paperwork ok?"

Nanasuke gave a small nod before going over to cling onto the blue apron that Hiroto was wearing. Nanasuke watched as his mother disappeared down a side corridor before turning to look up at Hiroto. Hiroto gave him a bright smile,

"Come on Nanasuke! Lets find you some new friends to play with!" That said, Hiroto led the boy into one of the many brightly coloured play rooms.


	3. Chapter 3

Nanasuke reached for a sky blue crayon that lay in the plastic box at the center of the small, yellow 'Arts and Crafts' table. Carefully holding it in his hand, he started adding yet another colour to his drawing. The fierce look of concentration on the boy's face drew a chuckle from the red haired teen sitting opposite him.

They had entered the playroom (" Fifth door to the right, next to the wall with the pictures of dancing cats!" Nanasuke remembered Hiroto nii-san saying) to find it completely empty. Checking the schedule taped to the door, the group would be returning from 'Story Time' in 10 minutes- give or take. So, to amuse the toddler, Hiroto gave Nanasuke a sheet of drawing paper and a choice of markers, crayons and colour pencils. Now, Nanasuke had a pretty decent drawing/scribble of what looked like a whale eating candy floss on top of a satellite dish.

"That's a nice drawing you have there!" The teen said, giving the four year old an encouraging smile. "Mind telling me what it is?"

"A bird flying with a... a..." The boy paused, trying to remember the name of the item he had drawn. "...! A banana!" He said proudly, holding up his finished picture (though, upside down) for Hiroto to see.

Just as Nanasuke was about to ask for another sheet of paper, there was the sound of laughs and shrieks echoing behind the door in the hallway. Slowly but steadily getting louder. Strangely, above the laughter, one could begin to hear the sound of little feet running.

"Looks like they're back!" The redhead got up and was reaching to open the door when...

_WHAM_

The door shuddered from the impact on the outside. All was silent for a few seconds, Hiroto was taken aback by the shock, then whimpering and sobbing started.

Snapping out of it, Hiroto quickly opened the door. Nanasuke saw a boy keeled over on the ground, holding his head in his small hands and letting out a few painful sobs that could be heard over the laughter coming from further down the hallway.

"Satoru!" Hiroto knelt down to stroke the boy's black hair before lifting him back on his feet. The boy sniffed and started to wipe his tears away.

"Awww... you bumped your head..! Does it hurt?" The red head asked kindly. Nanasuke could see the boy better, now that he was off the floor. He had soft looking black hair, that stuck up at two points on top of his head, making him look like he had cat ears.

"Want me to get some ice to take away the pain?"

The boy called Satoru looked up at the red haired caretaker with large, rich green eyes. He barely opened his mouth to say "yes" when he spotted the unfamiliar face staring at him. Forgetting his pain almost instantly, the black haired boy ran up to Nanasuke.


End file.
